Finding Strawberries

“Grandma! Grandpa! You won’t believe it! You won’t believe it!” yelled our six year old granddaughter as she ran into the house from the backyard.

“You’ll never believe what happened!” she continued while trying to catch her breath. “I planted green beans and guess what I got, strawberries!!!” There in her outstretched hand were three little berries.

The weekend before, she had found some beans in our garage and decided to plant them, against the warning that it was too late in the year to plant green beans. The garden had already been tilled under. Nevertheless, she planted her beans and then called me daily to check their progress.

The day before she returned for another visit, some good friends brought over strawberry plants with a few berries on them. I immediately planted them in the garden. The next day, my granddaughter went to check on her green beans and whammo! strawberries.

Considering my granddaughter’s great discovery, I thought of the word serendipity, which means “a gift someone possesses for finding the unexpected joys in life.” You are not necessarily looking for them, but they kind of find you and when they do, whammo! strawberries instead of green beans.

To be serendipitous, you have to have the gift. It is a gift given to those folks who don’t give up; who are still planting while other folks have tilled under their gardens for the year. It is a gift given by a serendipitous God who delights in sending the unexpected joys of life to his children and rejoices greatly when they are found.

Oh Lord, we thank you for the unexpected joys in life and the people who show us how to find them.